


The Perils of Loving a Gangster's Daughter: Archie and Veronica Re-Unite in New York

by GeorgiaUnicorn



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-04-03 22:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14006073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeorgiaUnicorn/pseuds/GeorgiaUnicorn
Summary: It's about seven years after the action of the show. Archie is rooming with Betty and Jughead in NYC. Archie is a teacher, and Jughead and Betty are both in graduate school. Betty and Jug are still together, but Archie and Veronica had a tragic falling out a few years back because of Hiram's actions. They haven't talked in a while, but then one day, Veronica appears at the apartment, wanting to talk to Archie. Will they rekindle their romance? In the meantime, Toni shows up at the apartment with news about FP that might take Jughead and Betty back to for a visit to Riverdale for the first time in a while.





	1. The Return of Ronnie

Chapter One: The Return of Ronnie

A knock booms on the door. “Veronica?” I’m genuinely dumbfounded. This is the first time I’ve seen her or even heard from her in the past four years. I’m a big believer in having a clean break, as that really helped me to get over Geraldine.  
Jughead and Betty peer over from the couch, where they’ve been snuggling and watching a movie. Both of them look as shocked as I feel. After our tumultuous break-up and Mr. Lodge pretty much turning Riverdale upside down, none of us has heard from Ronnie in a while.  
“Uh, hi. Come on in.” A part of me wishes she had come at a time when I wasn’t home. But then again, most of us are home on lazy Sunday afternoons.  
“Um, hi, V.” I can see Betty desperately trying not to clench her fists too hard. It’s what she does when she’s nervous. “Would you like some coffee?” Her smile looks more than a little bit forced.  
“That would be great. Thanks B!” Ronnie sounds a little too excited, kind of like the nerdy girl who is trying too hard to fit in with the popular girls. I’m used to her sounding the opposite, like she’s the one who is in control.  
Betty pours coffee with a spoonful of sugar and milk for all. For just a split second, I feel like we are all in high school again and back at Pop’s, rather than a musty, cramped New York City apartment we live in as we try to teach, do grad school, and other things associated with the early phases of this thing called “adulting.” For just a few minutes, I pretend.  
But I’ve learned the hard way that lying to yourself doesn’t help in the long run. It only leads to pain and loss.  
“So, what’s everyone up to these days?” Ronnie smiles the same way she smiled when Riverdale High tried to make peace with the Serpents.  
“Um, well, I’m in journalism school at Columbia!” Betty’s voice sounds excited, but also tense and uncomfortable. Ronnie nods, seeming not at all surprised.  
“I’m doing a MFA in fiction at NYU,” Jug’s voice sounds serious and somewhat broody. But then again, that’s always how he sounds. Ronnie keeps nodding, almost too enthusiastically, like an out of control bobble head doll.  
“I’m teaching high school music, still playing some gigs on the weekends.”  
“That’s no surprise, Archiekins.”  
That awkward moment when your ex calls you by your old pet name, the one you never really liked to begin with.  
“So, um, what are you up to these days, Ronnie?” I’m almost hesitant to ask, after the way things went down with her family. But I do want to know what she’s doing for her day job, as her night job is being a Bona Fide Gangster’s daughter.  
“I’m doing fashion design!” This time, Ronnie’s joy is genuine. The career job fits her passions. We all nod.  
Ronnie looks directly at me as she gulps down the rest of her coffee that Betty made for her. “So Archie, I was wondering if we could talk...just the two of us. I scoped out a coffee shop nearby.”  
Oh gosh, what on earth does she have to say to me? That her Dad wants to try to do business with me again? I thought I made it clear that I was done with that. But her eyes look earnest.  
I can feel myself sighing. “Okay, Ronnie. Let’s do it.”  
She smiles ear to ear, and my stomach starts to sink. Betty looks at me, wide eyed and scared. Jughead’s jaw is firm, and he looks pissed. I know how much he hates the Lodge family.  
Why do I have a feeling that I’m going to regret this?  
But I believe some people deserve second chances.


	2. Coffeehouse Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archie reflects on his past and wonders if it's truly possible for he and Veronica to rekindle their romance.

As a songwriter, I've noticed a common trend among the poems and songs that I've read and listened to: most of the best ones are about missed opportunities.  
Regret. It's an emotion I know well. I regret not being more careful with Betty's feelings when she first told me that she loved me as more than a best friend. I regret the way I've treated Jughead at times, especially during the summer of Geraldine, the summer of Jason Blossom's tragic and untimely death. Fortunately, Jug has forgiven me, and I know I couldn't ask for a better best friend. We've been at odds at times, but in the end, he stood by me, even when the worst happened in Riverdale and others turned their backs on me.  
Most of all, I regret that I tried so hard to fit in with the Lodge family that I forgot to be my father's son, and more importantly, who I really am.  
Regrets: I definitely have them. But I daresay, I've never missed an opportunity, in sports, in music, or in love.  
And now is not the time to start.  
I don't want Ronnie to be that missed opportunity, the soul mate who slipped through my fingers. I don't want to be one of those middle-aged country, rock, or blues singers who laments lost opportunities, especially lost love.  
This thing with Ronnie, though, this is only going to work if she's really, truly ready to separate herself from her family and to be her own person. I know it's a lot to ask of a 23-year-old woman from a rich family. But it's what has to happen for us to be together for the long haul. I see that now, but does she?  
"Archie, what kind of coffee would you like?" She smiles her knowing smile, awakening me from my thoughts the way that, so far, only she's been able to. The first time I saw her, Betty was talking to me, but all I could see and her was her. Eight years later, and that's still true. Maybe it's true to a fault.  
"Iced black coffee, no sugar, no cream."  
How many coffeehouse conversations can, or do, change everything?


	3. Chapter Three: Veronica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is told from Veronica's perspective.

I'm a good person. At least, I try my best to be. I can understand why some people think I'm not. I am, after all, the daughter of a bona fide gangster. 

But I wish Archie believed me, really believed me, when I told him that I didn't think my family would bring him into the dark circle, the one much darker and more dangerous than his red circle, as deeply as they did. Before that all went down, and when we first moved to Riverdale, I only testified on behalf of my father to protect my mother. But it led to a series of events that instigated Archie's arrest and, well, a whole other series of messy incidents afterwards that ultimately led to the demise of Archie's and my relationship. 

I'm glad Jughead and Betty have worked out. I know things were up and down for them in high school. But that was a weird time for all of us, and I always had a deep down feeling that they were soul mates. 

I can't help feeling happy for them, but also sad for myself. I've dated other guys before and after Archie, but it's never been the same level of connection. Is Archie the one who got away? A lot of people seem to have that one person, the one who would have stuck if one or two things had gone differently. 

I'm glad Archie's name got cleared after his arrest. It would have been hard for him to teach music, coach high school football, and perform with a prison record, and he's well-suited to do all of those things. 

If he decides he can't fully forgive me and we don't reconnect romantically, I understand. I hope I can at least salvage our friendship, or at least be amicable with Archie. His parents never were able to reconcile their differences, but they are amicable with each other, and I think that's best when possible. Maybe even more importantly, though, I want to rekindle my friendship with Betty. I really thought that she and I would be soul sisters for life. I understand why she felt she had to choose Archie over me. They had been bosom buddies since kindergarten, and I was the out of town stranger who had only been in their lives for a couple of years. 

But it still hurt, especially after that vow we made sophomore year of high school over milkshakes at Pop's, the promise that we'd never let another boy come between us again. 

Sadly, though, people often make promises to each other that they can't keep. 

This time, though I hope things will be different. We're all in New York City now, for a very much needed fresh start. In Riverdale small town culture, you're either a part of inner circles, or you're not. I was in one with Betty, Archie, and Jughead, with Kevin, Toni, Cheryl, and a few others on the outer edge. But then I wasn't, and my life got a lot worse. 

But in bigger cities, circles can more easily grow, re-shape, and re-form. Even circles that have been cracked have a chance at coming back together. 

At least, that's my hope.


End file.
